Challenge between two beautiful teams of which we know little.
“Erasmus” is the Monday column in which we tell you about a sparkling game from the international football weekend. If you missed previous episodes, you can find them here.
For photosynthesis to take place, the leaves of a tree must be able to stretch upwards. If you are in Brittany or in the Pas-de-Calais department of Upper France, the heaven you aspire to reach is England, metaphorically and literally. To get there by balloon and exceed the 34 km minimum width of the Channel, the method is paradoxically simple. The aspirations of breathing deeply, even if only for a few evenings in the autumn weeks, is to obtain qualification for European competitions. There is no Premier League anymore either Ligue 1. Everything becomes thinner, everything is nuanced and magical. Rennes-Lens worth a place in the sun, to experience first-hand the nights of Europe.
Brittany is a land full of dichotomies enclosed in harmony. So linked to the Middle Ages, so magnetically attracted to the Anglo-Saxon coast a few hundred kilometers to the north. Rennes is no exception. Not even the Stade Rennais. You are in a time machine, starting with the name of the stadium. Not anymore Lorient Road Stadium, in honor of the street that hosts it, just beyond the meeting of the Ille and Vilaine rivers which give the department its name. It has been called since 2015 Roazhon Park. The Breton name of the city, the English noun of the stadium. From roots to clouds. harmonic dichotomy.
The hosts, just before this endless break for the national teams, indulged in the whim of violating the Parc des Princes in Paris, returning to the race for a qualification for the next Champions League. Seven points higher, Lens, one of the most beautiful and stimulating stories of European football in recent years. Winning in Brittany, The Blood and Gold (arguably one of the best color combinations for a team) would reach Marseille in second place, at levels reached only at the turn of the New Millennium.
With OM equalizing early on Friday, France’s two most chameleonic and quick-change 3-4-3s have the opportunity to send a message to all their direct rivals. Champions, Europe or Conference League, little changes. It’s not a derby but, between the field and the bench, historical courses and appeals are different.
At Rohazon Park the atmosphere is that of great occasions, with choreography in the stands and entertainment on the pitch.
Turpin whistles. Rennes and Lens start pressing to death in the opposing trocar, leaving behind the defensive trios of the prairies that can only be covered with a monstrously high average athletic level. Just 10 minutes passed and there we are already in love with at least a dozen players. Igor Tudor is not entirely wrong: Ligue 1 – The league of talents it’s a claim most apt.
The Lens defensive trio, Gradit-Dance-Medina holds the line in midfield, responding to Rennes’ long transitions and is also one of the biggest threats in the opposing box. First Medina and then Danso frighten Mandanda. which is still alive, yesand para with us.
The backbone of Rennes instead is composed as follows: Christopher WoohFranco-Cameroonian four-door wardrobe arrived in the summer from Lens; Benjamin Bourigeaud7 years with the Sang et or before bringing his quality to Rennes; Lesley Chimuanya Ugochukwua nineteen-year-old from the youth system who stealthily covers gargantuan portions of the field; Desire Douea seventeen-year-old second striker with the technical electricity and arrogant exuberance of someone who will become a champion but still has a long way to go.
Already after a few minutes, Medina is on the right track to become your favorite left-handed pimp.
Mister Haise has prepared it Very well: Lens won’t have the potential and the arrows in the quiver of the landlords, but if they have 7 points more there will be a reason. Fulgini, Seko Fofana and Openda take turns slipping in behind Bourigeaud: found by linesmen of Medina and Graditthe three receive on the trocar and move the 5 Rennes defenders, treating them as if they were one Slime.
Meanwhile, Medina is probably become your favorite left-handed pom-pom.
Al 31′ Analysts he unblocked it with his head, despite everyone in the box at that moment – from Rennes or Lens it doesn’t matter – giving him at least 10 cm.
Two minutes go by from the host advantage and Bourigeaud has the equalizing ball in tow on his right foot. Medina if I sacrifice, deflecting the sure shot on the crossbar. She gets up exulting as if she were at the Monumental. Brice Samba cuddles him between the gloves.
Ugochukwu hasn’t taken a shot yet but he’s always in the right place at the right time. He looks like he’s 29, not 19.
45′ intense, rough but excitingin which Perhaps we have found our favorite left-handed pom-pom.
Rennes sells dreams. And it is no coincidence that – in an era in which he has returned to strongly investing in the youth sector – the results of the first team have returns not only financially but also in terms of points. Lens, on the other hand, adhering to the mining vocation of Upper France, sells solid realities. Sang et or. Roots and clouds. At the helm Franck Haise, born in Normandy – halfway between Rennes and Lens – and who coached in the Breton youth academy for 6 years. Courses and appeals.
Ten rounds of the clock in the second half and Génésio has had enough: Fofana, captain of the soul of Lens, has just wasted Openda’s lifted cross. The Brazilian coach does not remove the apathetic Kalimuendo but revolutionizes the offensive front anyway, inserting two representatives of the category best-players-if-we-relied-only-on-Best-Skills-compilations-on-Youtube such as Lovro Majer and Amine Gouiri. Il Rennes passed al 2-4-2-1: The missing man is Ugochukwu, who needs just a couple of wider-than-average strides to move from one ward to another.
Sotoca and Frankowski, Lens wingers, descend on the center line. Fulgini and Thomasson cover the position in the half spaces, clogging the circulation of the landlords and accompanying Openda in the increasingly rare offensive sorties. Medina is to all effects your favorite left-handed pom-pom. The fort in the shape of a 5-4-1 does not seem to wobble, also thanks to a Danso from other times for leadership and tackling technique.
20′ from the end, the first cracks in the Lens system were visible: Kalimuendo escaped for the first time, Frankowski missed his first support, Gradit easily lost possession. No problem: Medina is officially your favorite left-handed pom-pom.
Goes into Tissue, Italian nightmare in one night a couple of summers ago. It’s been almost two years and that tarantula demon is Still at Rennes. He will be lost along the way. You search for it on the internet and find that it has Still 20 years. Damn us, our definition of young and our stereotyped prejudices about French football.
The Belgian enters and changes the inertia of the match. As? Creating chaos: the 10 is a player with a low center of gravity, fast and unpredictable among Lens defenders. On his trail, however, the special envoy is Facundo Medina. And let’s not add anything else.
He goes on 7′ from the end Spence, the purchase of Antonio Conte’s dreams (or nightmares). So, just because there was not enough raw talent and very high potential.
At the stroke of 90 ‘, Haise replaces what is now our favorite player. The final siege without the Medina’s bleached canopy it will have less charm.
Who is in charge of leading the defense of the fort in the final minutes? Obviously Kevin Dance.
Ends 0-1. At the last moment we realize that Lens has two Mc Donald’s logos just under the buttocks, as well as that Rennes has all the credentials to take flight, but that Lens is abstinent from travel outside France from 15 years now. Time to go further, to launch oneself, aware of one’s foundations. Stretch upwards, but with feet firmly planted in the reality. Under reality.